Yesterday, when I was searching for Charcot-Wilbrand syndrome, I found something else just as interesting. When we are children the part of the brain that keeps us from "acting out" our dreams is not fully developed yet. In most cases, this leads to mild sleepwalking or simply moving around while asleep, and eventually our brains learn to paralyze our bodies while in REM sleep. However, if the brain experiences trauma in this area before it fully develops - or after, if the trauma is severe enough - the brain will not be able to paralyze the body. In this case, patients actually "act out" their dreams: jumping out of windows, running, speaking, dancing.
If that isn't the most Shakespearean sleep disorder in science to date then I don't know what is.
Sabrina
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